The front line of The Cookers. L-R: Billy Harper, David Weiss, Eddie Henderson, Craig Handy.

John Rogers for NPR
/ johnrogersnyc.com

Originally published on January 28, 2013 12:41 pm

Take a group of heavyweight jazz masters — the kind who helped to make the classic records that defined the modern idiom — and put them together on stage: Of course there'll be fireworks. But the all-star collection known as The Cookers has cohered into a band which has toured for five years now, and released three albums of mostly original compositions. Their latest, 2012's Believe, proudly captures this band's meat-and-potatoes spirit, and brings some deserved attention to its members' storied and ongoing careers. The Cookers authentically deliver the adventurous loose assembly of hard-bop's past, a hard-swinging flavor that remains vital today.

The Cookers followed Geri Allen's Timeline quartet on stage at the 92Y Tribeca in downtown New York City, as part of the WBGO concert series The Checkout: Live. WBGO and NPR Music presented a live radio broadcast and online video webcast of the twin bill. For the full concert archive of this series, visit npr.org/checkoutlive.